Bogota, Colombia | AFP | Colombia’s ELN Marxist guerrilla group announced Monday a Christmas ceasefire as peace talks with the country’s government have been on hold since August. Such moves by the ELN are common this time of year and the group said it was granting a unilateral truce “at …
Read More »DR Congo refugees put little faith in coming elections
Kyangwali, Uganda | AFP | They may have fled their homes six months or as much as 20 years ago, but few of them have any faith in the upcoming elections in Democratic Republic of Congo. Until recently, Immaculate Nyakato, 65, lived in Ituri, one of DR Congo’s eastern provinces …
Read More »Sudan’s Bashir visits Damascus, meets Assad: Syrian presidency
Damascus, Syria | AFP | Sudan’s President Omar al-Bachir visited Damascus on Sunday, the Syrian presidency said, in his first such visit to the war-torn country since the start of the conflict. “President Omar Hassan al-Bashir… arrived this afternoon on a visit to the Syrian Arab Republic,” the presidency said. …
Read More »Mali to send reinforcements to Timbuktu
Bamako, Mali | AFP | Mali on Sunday announced it will be sending reinforcements to the northern city of Timbuktu amid growing concerns about security in the region. Another 350 police officers, paramilitary gendarmes and soldiers will be deployed, Prime Minister Soumeylou Boubeye Maiga told reporters in Bamako Saturday on …
Read More »Syria conflict: 2017 deadliest year for children, UN aid official reports
Damascus, Syria | UN | More than 900 children in Syria were killed last year, making 2017 the deadliest year for children in the country’s ongoing conflict, a senior United Nations official told the Geneva-based Human Rights Council on Tuesday, warning that the grim statistics may only be the tip …
Read More »US calls for ‘immediate’ dialogue over Cameroon conflict
United Nations, United States | AFP | The United States on Thursday called for “immediate and broad-based reconciliatory dialogue” in between Cameroon’s government and separatists, urging talks “without pre-conditions.” “We urge all sides to forswear violence, to restore peace, and to resolve their grievances through political dialogue,” said Jonathan Cohen, …
Read More »Mutebile: BoU to review policy on conflict of interest
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Central Bank Governor Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile has said that they will review the Bank’s policy on conflict of interest. Parliament’s committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) is currently investigating circumstances under which the Central Bank closed and sold seven commercial banks …
Read More »US Senate advances vote on ending military support for Saudis in Yemen
Washington, United States | AFP | The US Senate sent a fresh warning to President Donald Trump and Saudi Arabia Wednesday by greenlighting a vote that could end US military support for Riyadh’s war in Yemen. Anger at the human cost of the war, as well as outrage over the …
Read More »Conflict of interest cited in Global Trust Bank sale
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Parliament’s committee on Commissions, Statutory Authorities and State Enterprises (COSASE) has cited possibility of conflict of interest in the sale of Global Trust Bank to DFCU. The committee in Friday continued its investigation into a decision by Bank of Uganda (BoU) to sale the Bank …
Read More »Israel’s Netanyahu hails UN Hamas vote despite defeat
Jerusalem, Undefined | AFP | Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday hailed majority backing in the UN General Assembly for condemning militant group Hamas even though a draft resolution failed to win enough votes to pass. The US draft won 87 votes in the General Assembly on Thursday compared …
Read More »